Just Only Blog

Here is a photo taken in Duluth, MN. This is an area full of iron ores – so much so that the land is the color of rust.

You can see evidence of iron by the color of the river and rocks.

Here are the rusty squirrels I mentioned in class. The squirrels have figured out how to blend in with their lovely coats that are a perfect match for iron oxide.

Rusty Squirrels Blend in with Iron Rich Terraine

Taconite is the most common ore in this area.

Because of the holiday Chemistry 201 met only once and spent a fair amount of that first class taking a test. Why? Because in order to be successful in Chemistry 201 it is critical to have a good foundation in Basic Chemistry – names of the elements, basic structure of matter, simple chemical equations, nomenclature of inorganic compounds, the metric system and it is also critical to have a good foundation is basic algebra – rearrange equations of solve for an unknown, carry out conversions, use proportional reasoning. Any student who is not very comfortable with these skills should immediately seek out support and hit the books! (and the Internet – there are so many useful videos, worksheets, explanations)

On Monday we will have our first lab so be sure to download and print it! We’ll be analyzing an unknown white powder – one of several common household white powders: sugar, baking soda, etc.

Having a laboratory notebook is very, very important! Please bring it to every class.

All grades for both Chemistry 201 and Chemistry 203 are posted in Blackboard and have been submitted in PeopleSoft. I will be on campus on Wednesday afternoon if you wish to pick up your lab books. Otherwise I’ll hold on to them until June. Please stop by and collect them. Have a wonderful holiday.

Please take a look.

Dear Students,

It is Friday late afternoon and I am still grading lab reports and lab notebooks. It takes time and I ask for your patience. I will keep you posted and let you know when the grades are posted to Blackboard. This will not happen before Monday.

Here is a link to some very good practice problems with answers on the topic of solution concentrations:

http://www.chemteam.info/Solutions/Molality-from-density-and-percent.html

Also I’ve created two handouts which summarize the steps in these conversions:

1. Conversion from molarity to molality

2. Conversion from molality to molarity

Since both classes have exams this week I’ll be available for questions and problem solving practice as follows:

9:00 – 11:00 Monday – focus on Chem 201

11:00 – 12:30 Monday – focus on Chem 203

5:00 – 6:00 Monday – focus on Chem 203

Vic found a story that is very timely to our current discussion. Please read it on the Chicago Tribune website:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-fg-fukushima-radiation-20111120,0,4008193.story

or you can access a pdf file I created…

The exam will cover material beginning with:

Chapter 21

21.4
Calculate K, ΔG and E^ocell from each other.

Calculate the potential of a concentration cell.

21.5 (no test questions on this section)

21.6 (no test questions on this section)

21.7

Predicting the products of electrolysis
Diagram an electrolysis cell
Apply the relationship between current, time and amount of substance

Chapter 22 will not be on the test.

Chapter 23

All sections are covered in this chapter.

Chapter 24

As mentioned in class – problems referencing p. 1076 will not be included.

24.3 (no test questions on this section)

24.6 (no test questions on this section)

Very little from 24.7 will be included but you need to know the basic difference between fusion and fission.

Sections not excluded above are included on this exam.

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I’ve posted a fourth practice exam under student resources/exams on my website that covers solution concentrations and colligative properties. There is also a key to this exam. Happy studying!

Solutions Quiz Key